Condo Management with Better Results
Effective condo management results in Better Quality, Better Value, and Fewer Headaches for board members. Enlan delivers results.
Real property management involves more than making phone calls when something goes wrong. Our company serves condominium associations with a more traditional management approach — using the tools of professional management (planning, organizing, etc.), to deliver improved quality and efficiency.
Case Study — CondoEmergency360℠
Though many emergencies can be prevented, despite the best planning condo associations will always have emergencies. Enlan’s programme for dealing with building emergencies is called: CondoEmergency360℠. A good emergency response has a lot of components, which add up to a good resolution, with minimum inconvenience to the residents, preventing as much potential further damage as possible, and without the association paying too much for the service. A recent building emergency provides an example of good condo emergency management:
Emergency: Overhead Door serving Chicago high-rise condo association broken.
Constraints:
- Residents unable to get their cars out of garage.
- Door was serving heated garage with wet sprinkler system.
- Door was on busy street.
- Failed after hours, and emergency repair may not be successful.
Communication Requirements:
- Residents who needed immediate access.
- Residents who might need to move their cars during time door would be worked on.
- Condo Board members who need to be aware of the situation, and may need to give input as to handling of the emergency.
First Response
One evening, we received a call on our emergency number with a report that an overhead garage door was not working at a high-rise. Within 30 minutes, the property manager was on-site, assessing the situation – after having first called the after-hours number for the garage door company. On arrival, the chain was broken, and it was soon known that the problem was not just the chain, but that possibly the broken chain was the result of another problem with the operator itself. When the garage door company called back, the option was given that the company could send a tech out for $250+ per hour, with no guarantee that it could be repaired.
This since this was occurring at about 8:00 p.m. it had the potential to greatly inconvenience many residents who needed to get their cars out of the garage – both that night and the following morning. The property manager asked if the operator (the motor and open track) could be replaced first thing the next morning. There were no guarantees, but the company said they would try to move things around. The company first recommended possibly leaving the door wide open, and having a guard watch the door overnight to allow people to come in and out. This was not an option, as it was a bitter cold night, and the door was serving a heated garage with a wet sprinkler system that could potentially freeze – which would create an even more serious emergency.
Interim Solution
To address this problem, the chain was temporarily repaired by the property manager, and management brought someone in to watch the door between 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 a.m. the next day – when the door company came to replace the operator. Though the door was ‘working’, it needed to be manually stopped or it would stop at the floor, and go back up. The security person watching the door was able to stop the door after it closed, each time someone opened it.
The next morning, when it was known that the door would be out of service for hours during the repair, the security person notified all residents bringing cars into the garage that if they were going to need their cars during the repair, they would need to park the car on the street. One resident was kind enough to give the security person coffee and donuts the next morning.
Resolution
About 5:00 p.m. the day following the problem, the door operator was replaced with a new operator that suited the association’s needs.
Conclusion
An emergency in condo buildings can be very serious, especially with regards to safety, convenience and expense. A good emergency management programme is a key element in containing/preventing possible further damage, addressing the problem quickly and with minimum inconvenience to residents, as well as minimizing the economic impact to the association.